Afghanistan

Lord Morris of Aberavon: To ask Her Majesty's Government what research they have undertaken in the past 10 years on providing protection against improvised explosive devices used in Afghanistan.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: Countering the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) is critical to making military progress in the Afghanistan campaign. This threat is challenging and there is no single solution. The Defence Science and Technology Programme underpins all the activities to deliver an assured method of detecting and defeating this threat, and to understand, identify and disrupt the terrorist networks responsible for facilitating, manufacturing and planting IEDs.

Armed Forces: Compensation

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many former members of HM Forces have outstanding legal claims as a result of the effects of the 1958 Christmas Islands nuclear tests; how many such cases have been settled; and what sums were involved.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The nuclear test veterans' legal action consists of 1,011 cases from the 1950-60s, 10 of which were selected as lead cases to be tried on the preliminary issue of limitation.
	On 14 March 2012, the Supreme Court ruled, on a majority decision, in all respects save one case that the lead cases are statute barred and declined to allow the claims to proceed; the Ministry of Defence did not appeal one of the 10 lead cases.
	In handing down judgment, all seven justices hearing the cases recognised that the veterans would face great difficulty proving a causal link between illnesses suffered and attendance at the tests. The claims were described as having no reasonable prospect of success and doomed to fail.
	It remains to be seen whether the veterans' legal representatives attempt to further pursue any of these claims.
	None of the cases has been subject to financial settlement.

Communities: Integration

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty's Government which black and ethnic minority organisations were consulted when devising Creating the Conditions for Integration; whether it is an effective strategy to tackle racism and racial injustice; and whether they have plans for further publications on tackling racism and racial injustice.

Baroness Hanham: Creating the Conditions for Integration was published on 21 February 2012. Over the past year, we discussed our policy approach to integration with a wide range of organisations, including significant black and ethnic minority organisations, and will continue to do so.
	Our integration approach is complementary to the wider Government commitments to equalities and social mobility, including in the Equality Act 2010, the Equality Strategy and the Social Mobility Strategy.
	Taken together these represent a strong and comprehensive response to inequality and disadvantage, including through race.

Council Tax

Lord Jenkin of Roding: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they intend to bring forward updated proposals for referendums triggered by a local authority's announcement of an increase in council tax which is alleged to be excessive.

Baroness Hanham: The Local Authorities (Conduct of Referendums) (Council Tax Increases) (England) Regulations 2012, which would apply to any council tax referendums held in 2012-13, came into force on 18 February 2012, following approval by both Houses.
	During the debate in Grand Committee on 14 February, I gave a commitment to the House that the Government would go back to the Electoral Commission following technical comments they had expressed on the council tax referendums question, which is included in the regulations, with a view to coming forward with a proposal for a revised question. We are currently in discussions with the Commission and expect to lay, for the approval of both Houses, an amendment to the regulations incorporating a revised council tax referendums question. This will happen well in advance of the local authority budget-setting process for 2013-14.

Driving: Fraud

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government what use the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency makes of available confirmed fraud data when assessing driving licence applications.

Earl Attlee: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is committed to tackling criminal abuse of the driving licence system. All identity documents submitted to the agency are subject to stringent checks by trained staff using specialist equipment. When intelligence on potential fraud is received from government departments and enforcement agencies investigations are undertaken. Procedures for fraud prevention are kept under review and adjusted in line with intelligence relating to the latest trends.

Equality Act 2010

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the implications for efforts to eliminate racial discrimination of the decision of the Equality and Human Rights Commission to publish some Codes of Practice explaining the statutory provisions of the Equality Act 2010 as non-statutory codes.

Baroness Verma: The decision of the Equality and Human Rights Commission to publish some current draft Codes of Practice in the form of non-statutory guidance is a matter for the commission. It was taken in the light of the Government's view, communicated to the commission, that making these draft codes statutory would run the risk of creating unnecessary bureaucracy for public bodies and as such would not contribute to eliminating discrimination and wider compliance with the Equality Act 2010.

Equality Act 2010

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty's Government which Equality Act 2010 Codes of Practice and guidance (1) the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published as non-statutory codes, and (2) they expect the EHRC to publish as non-statutory codes.

Baroness Verma: The Equality and Human Rights Commission has published statutory codes of practice on employment, services and equal pay in relation to the Equality Act 2010. It has also published non-statutory guidance on various aspects of the 2010 Act.
	I understand that the commission intends to publish their draft statutory codes on the public sector equality duty, on schools and on higher and further education in the form of non-statutory guidance.

Freedom of Speech

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government what advice they have issued to the police about arresting people for remarks made in speech or writing; and whether, in the light of the recent arrests of two Israeli citizens for making comments about Iran on a British Airways flight and of Mr Azhar Ahmed for making comments about British soldiers in Afghanistan, they will issue further guidance on this matter.

Baroness Verma: We have a long tradition of free speech in the United Kingdom. However, we have to balance the right to freedom of speech with the need to prevent actions which intimidate, threaten violence or incite others to hatred. Current legislation, including that on offences of incitement to racial or religious hatred, and on racially and religiously aggravated offences, aims to strike that delicate balance.
	The Government do not intervene in operational police matters, but forces have a duty to investigate all crimes and, following advice from the Crown Prosecution Service, to decide whether or not an incident reaches the threshold required for prosecution under the relevant legislation.

Gaza

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Israel about the recent killing of civilians in Gaza as a result of Israeli military activity.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We remain concerned about civilian casualties in Gaza during the recent air strikes by the Israeli military, as well as from indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel by Palestinian militant groups.
	On 12 March 2012, following the Israeli air-strikes on Gaza and rocket attacks by Palestinian militant groups on Israel, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my honourable friend the Member for North East Bedfordshire (Mr Burt) released the following statement:
	"I am deeply concerned by the recent escalation of violence in Gaza and southern Israel. I condemn any attacks targeting civilians. I urge all sides to exercise restraint, re-establish calm and avoid any further civilian casualties".
	The incidents on 9-12 March 2012 represent a worrying escalation of violence. Reports indicate that 30 air-strikes were undertaken by the Israeli Defence Force; and 212 rockets and mortars were launched from the Gaza Strip by Palestinian militant groups, with 95 landing in Israel. At least eight Israelis were injured; 26 Palestinians were killed, and several tens of Palestinians injured.
	There has been an ongoing low level of violence since then, but we are not aware of further casualties.
	Our officials are continuing to monitor the situation closely and to make representations as appropriate.

Gaza

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the deaths of, and serious casualties inflicted on, civilians in (1) Gaza, and (2) southern Israel as a result of military activity across the border between those areas in the past three months.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We remain concerned about civilian casualties during the recent air strikes on Gaza by the Israeli military, as well as from the indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel by Palestinian militant groups.
	The United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) produce a detailed breakdown of Israeli-Palestinian conflict related casualties every month for the UN OCHA humanitarian monitor report, these can be found at: www.ochaopt.org.
	The United Nations report that there were two Israelis injured in January 2012; figures for February 2012 are not yet available. Reports indicate that during 9-12 March 2012, 30 air-strikes were undertaken by the Israeli Defence Force on Gaza; and 212 rockets and mortars were launched from the Gaza Strip by Palestinian militant groups, with 95 landing in Israel. At least eight Israelis were injured; 26 Palestinians were killed, and several tens of Palestinians injured.

Government Departments: Staff

Lord Campbell-Savours: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made as to whether conflicts of interest have arisen or can arise in circumstances where civilian and military officials within the Ministry of Defence are funded by overseas Governments; and how many such officials are in place.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: The arrangements that govern exchanges for civilian and military officials have adequate provision within them setting out the standards expected of these officials regarding the protection and use of information that they may have access to during their posting. Posts occupied by these officials are the responsibility of the individual services or business areas. Therefore the actual numbers of such officials in place are not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Immigration

Lord Marlesford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements are in force to enable persons who have been put on a watch-list by the UK Border Agency to be detected leaving or arriving in the United Kingdom if they are using a non-United Kingdom passport of which the passport service and the UK Border Agency are unaware.

Lord Henley: e-Borders technology works by analysing biographical travel document information (also known as advance passenger information) from passengers and crew members prior to travel either into or out of the United Kingdom. Biographical data are obtained from a travel document (including passports), and includes name, date of birth, nationality, gender, travel document type, state of issue, number and expiry date. The biographical details of the passenger do not change and therefore an individual is identifiable against a watchlist irrespective of the nationality of travel document the individual is travelling on.

Iraq

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports from Iraq of the stoning to death of teenagers because of their appearance or orientation; and whether they will raise the issue with the Government of Iraq.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Recent reports about violent attacks against Iraqi followers of the "emo" fashion trend are deeply worrying. Whilst it is difficult to build an accurate picture of the number of Iraqis affected, we remain concerned about any incidents involving harassment or intimidation.
	The Government of Iraq have reiterated their commitment to protecting freedoms of all individuals. We will continue to press the Iraqi Government to uphold this pledge.

Justice: Interpreting and Translation Services

Baroness Coussins: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many court cases have been adjourned due to the lack of a qualified, vetted professional interpreter being provided under the Applied Language Solutions framework agreement.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the current daily cost of court adjournments and other disruptions to the criminal justice system because of a lack of qualified, vetted professional interpreters.

Lord McNally: (1) No data are available. The chief statistician of the Ministry of Justice intends to publish data on interpreters as Official Statistics which will be produced in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. It is his intention to release data by the end of May 2012. A publication date will be placed on the MoJ website once an exact date has been confirmed by the chief statistician.
	(2) There was an unacceptable number of problems in the first two weeks of full implementation of the contract after 30 January 2012. These problems have caused some disruption to court business; however no data are yet available on the disruption.

Justice: Out-of-court Disposals

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government what role they envisage for magistrates in monitoring out-of-court disposals.

Lord McNally: The Government are considering how best to improve local oversight of out-of-court disposals as part of wider work to ensure that such disposals are used appropriately. We are looking in particular at what contribution magistrates might make in this context given their knowledge of the criminal justice system and their strong links to local communities.
	Details will be announced later this year when the Government sets out their plans for reforming criminal justice.

Railways: Reform

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they envisage that changes in current working patterns will be adopted by public sector organisations as a result of the publication of the Command Paper Reforming our Railways to encourage travel outside high peak hours.

Earl Attlee: Many employers already recognise the benefits of more flexible working patterns and allow their staff to work flexibly. However, we believe that many more employers and employees in both the public and private sectors could benefit from more flexible working arrangements. Our Alternatives to Travel work with public and private sector organisations encourages them to consider whether they could work flexibly or travel outside peak hours.
	The Government want to support a flexible working culture which is why the Government have committed to extend the right to request flexible working to all employees in 2014.

Religious Freedom

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any plans to clarify the law in respect of Christians wishing to wear a cross in the workplace.

Baroness Verma: No. We have no plans to change the law. At present there is nothing in UK law that denies people the right to express their religious views-including through the wearing of a religious symbol such as a cross-while at work. Employers need to have proportionate and legitimate reasons if they want to restrict their employees from openly wearing a cross or any other religious item.
	We believe that in this respect domestic law strikes the right balance between the rights of employees to manifest their faith and that of employers to place legitimate restrictions on that where appropriate, for instance in order to ensure patient safety or for health and safety reasons.

Sri Lanka

Lord Steel of Aikwood: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, in the light of the television programme "Sri Lanka's Killing Fields" broadcast on 14 March concerning the treatment of Tamils, they will oppose Sri Lanka being host to the scheduled Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.

Lord Howell of Guildford: Once again, Channel 4 has brought to international attention important and disturbing evidence to support allegations of grave abuses in Sri Lanka. The UK will urge the United Nations Human Rights Council to pass a resolution which calls on Sri Lanka to implement the recommendations of its Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission and meet its international obligations to investigate allegations of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.
	The UK believes that the host of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting should uphold the Commonwealth values of good governance and respect for human rights. We will look to Sri Lanka to demonstrate its commitment to these values, both now, and in the run up to 2013.
	A key part of this will be to address longstanding issues around accountability and reconciliation after the war.

Sudan

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the comments made by Dr Mukesh Kapila, reported by Associated Press on 7 March, that genocide may be taking place in the Nuba mountains in South Kordofan.

Lord Howell of Guildford: We are deeply concerned by the civilian situation in Southern Kordofan due to the ongoing conflict. The lack of access makes it difficult to assess the true extent of humanitarian needs, but the direct and indirect impact of conflict and the lack of humanitarian access, give serious grounds for concern.
	We have consistently called for full and unhindered humanitarian access to conflict-affected areas, and have urged the Government of Sudan to respond positively to the proposal put forward jointly by the United Nations, African Union and League of Arab States, to ensure humanitarian access.
	We strongly condemn the use of indiscriminate tactics by both sides during the fighting, and have made clear our opposition to aerial bombardment, use of mines and other means that put civilian lives at risk. Such actions by either side are likely to be violations of international humanitarian law and deserve credible and independent investigation.

Visas

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many visas were issued in 2011 for non-European Economic Area workers on intra-company transfers, and whether they regard those workers as (1) habitually resident in the United Kingdom, and (2) eligible for free health treatment; and using a median salary of £40,000 how much revenue is foregone by virtue of the exclusion from the requirement for employer or employee national insurance contributions to be paid.

Lord Henley: There were 29,677 visas issued to main applicants from non-EEA nationalities under the points-based system (PBS) tier 2-intra-company transfer (ICT) route in 2011.
	Table be.04 of the Home Office statistical release "Immigration Statistics" includes data on the number of out of country visas issued under the tier 2 intra-company transfer route. The latest release of Immigration Statistics (October-December 2011) is available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Science, research and statistics web pages at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics/migration/migration-statistics1/.
	The term habitual residence is used by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) when considering applications for income related benefits. Those workers here under the ICT route do not have recourse to public funds and are subject to minimum salary requirements. As such, under the DWP definition, none of those using the ICT route would be regarded as "habitually resident" for benefit purposes.
	The charging regulations in force across the UK exempt people working here for UK-based business from hospital charges if they are here, or expect to be here, for over 12 months. Such workers have free access to the NHS.
	We do not have information on the amount of revenue foregone by the exclusion from the requirement for employer or employee national insurance contributions. I refer to Answers previously given on 10 Jan 2012 (col. WA58), 13 July 2011 (col. WA 189), 2 December 2010 (col. WA 484) and 16 November 2010 (col. WA 196), which explained why non-EEA workers are allowed a 52-week exemption from national insurance contributions (which includes employer contributions).